Wildlife photographer Hannes Lochner spent three years in the Okavango Delta, camped under a sausage tree in Moremi. These dreamy photos are the result.
After working for five long years in the Kalahari, veteran wildlife photographer Hannes Lochner desperately wanted to be surrounded by water. So he packed his bags and set up camp under a sausage tree in the Okavango Delta. He shared his camp in Moremi Game Reserve with his partner Noa Köfler and a swarm of wild bees. Danger lurked at every turn – even the 8 kg fruit of the sausage tree caused havoc. Hannes would wake up to find the side mirrors of his Land Rover smashed to bits, big dents in the bonnet and even holes in his tent. One night he climbed out of that tent and nearly stepped on a female leopard, and the same three hyenas would join him and Noa every evening around the campfire. Cut off from the world except for a satellite phone for emergencies, Hannes spent three years studying the miraculous landscape and its abundant wildlife. The result is a stunning new book called Planet Okavango – a dreamy celebration of the delta and its inhabitants. Have a look at the photos featured here: Wildlife photography need not be pin sharp to convey a mood. Take a leaf out of Hannes’s book, learn to be more patient and never stop experimenting.
Squirrel hunter
Catching a squirrel can be tricky in the dense bush of the Okavango Delta, but that’s exactly what this leopard was trying to do. There were three leopards in fact: a mother leopard was attempting to shepherd the squirrels in the direction of her two cubs, which were lying in wait. At this moment, the sun shone through the bush as the mother leopard watched a squirrel escape up a tree.
HOW? Nikon D3S, 200 – 400 mm lens, shutter speed 1/2 000 second, aperture f4, ISO 1 000.